1/ Mobilised Russians from Novosibirsk say they have been sent to the front line without food, winter clothing or enough boots, have to buy their own provisions and have been told that if they want weapons they must take them from the Ukrainians. ⬇️
2/ A few days ago, the video linked below was published, showing the men complaining about their conditions. Now the independent Russian media outlet Important Stories (iStories) has interviewed one of them.
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1613591634180214784
The unnamed soldier says that he and his comrades are living "like homeless people", surviving in terrible conditions on the front line under constant bombardment. Despite this, they are falsely listed as being stationed in the safer 'green zone' in a rear area.
3/ Like many other mobiks, they received only basic training – how to throw a grenade or fire a rifle – before being deployed. They were "raked in" indiscriminately by military recruiters and were not given mandatory medical examinations to verify their fitness.
The men were given old and completely inadequate clothing. It included "hats on which the helmet does not tighten. With the jacket that was given out, if I put on a bulletproof vest, then I couldn't reach the automatic rifle."
4/ Their regional governor stepped in to give them additional equipment. It included "blue rubber boots, like for girls – some kind of half-boots, a sleeping bag, a sleeping mat, a thermos and a set of underwear that two people like me could fit into."
5/ Despite the manner in which they were mobilised, the men went along with it. iStories' interviewee says: "That's all. I'm not used to complaining, if I have to go, let's go. If it's necessary."
Now, he says, they "sleep in pits, dug a hole in the ground, made ourselves wooden ceilings from trees and live in them with mice. Mice steal food from us."
He feels that Travnikov deceived them and is lying to the public about the conditions in which the men are living.
6/ The men were given summer uniforms to wear and 10 pairs of boots between 30 men. Their clothes quickly wore out and became filthy and gnawed by mice. They have not been able to wash themselves or their clothes for weeks.
7/ One of their snipers had his rifle destroyed by shelling. "He says to the deputy commander: 'I need a rifle' ... They say to him: 'You want a rifle? Go to the zero [Ukrainian] line, take it – get a trophy, you will be a sniper. And if you become a submachine gunner, we won't give you anything.' In short, if you want [a weapon], go earn a trophy."
8/ The men have to buy all their supplies with their own money, including food and plastic tarpaulins to keep the rain off them.
"They brought us food three or four times. They said that our food was lost somewhere. And it was just another regiment that shared it with us. That is to say, the commander of their regiment sort of took it away from their soldiers and gave us a little extra."
9/ At one point, he says, the men were given a can of stew to share between four people – each person got two spoonfuls. "While we were waiting to be distributed among our positions, we bought meat and potatoes in neighboring villages in order to have at least something to eat. But when the money ran out, I had to exchange personal civilian things for food."
10/ Many of the mobilised haven't received any pay and don't have money with them, so they are having to rely on those with money to cover their food costs.
"If they want to eat, they chip in with the boys, someone goes on leave [i.e. travels to the rear] and buys everyone something to eat."
11/ Their commanders are almost completely absent from the scene. "I haven't seen the unit commander in person. We have a company commander, a platoon commander. If they come to us, they stand on the corner, throw a can of water out of the car, slam the door. You yell: "Come over here so we can talk." And he stops half a kilometre away on purpose, so that they do not ask him any questions, because he does not have any answers."
12/ The interviewee says that morale is failing in the miserable conditions and constant shelling, which has killed and wounded many. "Some people here are adequate, some are inadequate. Soon we will be shooting at each other, because we are sick of it all." /end
@ChrisO_wiki , are the Ukrainians accepting surrenders??
@JonKramer @ChrisO_wiki yes, there are plenty of videos of surrendering russians.
@sven @ChrisO_wiki , there seem to be far more videos of Ukrainians killing Russians. Not something that would encourage attempts to surrender. Offering deserters food, shelter, and the right to join Ukraine might quicken the end of the conflict.
@JonKramer soldiers killing soldiers is the nature of war, I suppose.
There are a couple of videos of Russian solders being fed after having surrendered. I've seen a couple of those already.
And there is even a Ukrainian hotline for Russian solders trying to surrender: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63782764